Chromatographic device



A ril 14, 1964 J. c. EBERHART 3,123,569

CHROMATOGRAPHIC DEVICE Filed Oct- 26, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. JOHN C. EBERHART BY www.mww

AHorngys April 1 1964 J. c. YEBERHART 3,128,569

CHROMATOGRAPHIC DEVICE Filed 0,613. 26, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 as 26 mm 28 LIN x 3Q 34 a 33 i 3 g sa l 3 g r' 3| 2! 38 4 II] 1 fij r q] l0 22. H I

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JOHN C. EBERHART swfffiww United States Patent Ofiice 3,128,569 Patented Apr. 14, 1964 Indiana Filed Oct. 26, 1962, Ser. No. 233,288

6 Claims. (CI. 40-34) This invention relates generally to chromatographic devices and in particular to a power operated apparatus for displaying shifting color patterns for use, as an example, in attracting attention to an advertising display.

While chromatographic or color display apparatus of the general type herein disclosed is not unknown in the prior art (US. Patent 2,360,536 being an example), these have been characterized mechanically by the necessity for multiple display discs, complicated drive mechanisms for providing various disc speeds or complicated shaping of the display components.

It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a chromatograph which functions to display discrete circular bands of primary color, concentric but of differing diameters, with the band width changing and with the color of each band shifting as the band width changes from a pure or primary color through various color blends and back to the original primary color.

A further object of the present invention is to provide the chromatic display referred to above by means of a single disc or backing member which is rotated at relatively high speed orbitally, that is, about an axis offset from the center of the backing member, and is simultaneously rotated about its own axis at a somewhat slower speed.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a relatively simple motion transmission mechanism for providing the compound motion of the backing member referred to above.

These and other objects will become apparent as the description proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a chromatographic disc embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the apparatus for driving the disc of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary, enlarged, top plan view of a portion of the disc drive apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view similar to FIG. 3 but showing the drive rotated 90 degrees from its position of FIG. 3.

Referring initially to FIG. 1, there is shown at a flat element or disc which is preferably formed of heavy paper and is at least semi-rigid. The disc is provided with a central mounting aperture 11 which is at the geometric center of the disc. An adjacent circular area 12, centered on the disc is divided into quadrants and each quadrant is provided a primary color, here illustrated as red, yellow, green and blue. The face of the disc 10 further carries circular, overlapping bands of primary color corresponding to the colors making up the circular area 12. In FIG. 1 a yellow band is indicated at 13, a red band at 14, a blue band at 16, a red band at 17 and a green band at 18. Further overlapping bands of color may be provided depending upon the diameter of the disc 10, it being particularly noted that the bands extend and cover the area at the outer margin of the disc.

Certain of the bands, such as 13 and 14 are of the same diameter, however, the other bands are of increasing diameter across the face of the disc. It will be further noted that the centers of the areas enclosed by the bands does not fall on the center of the disc 11, but that the locus of centers of all of the bands defines a circle indicated in broken lines at 19. Since the radius of this circle 19 must be coordinated with the drive apparatus arrangement, to be subsequently described, this radius dimension is indicated at x in FIG. 1.

Referring now to FIGS. 24, the power means for driving the chromatograph through the required motions will now be described. The structure includes an element taking the form of a backing plate 21 which extends radially outwardly from its central mounting on the drive shaft 22. As may best be seen in FIG. 3 the element 21 is pinned or otherwise rigidly secured to the drive shaft 22 so as to rotate therewith. The drive shaft is formed by the extension of the shaft of a drive motor 23 having a conventional mounting means indicated generally at 24. The motor is preferably of conventional alternating current type capable of rotating the shaft 22 relatively rapidly, at a speed of, for example, 1750 r.p.m.

As may best be seen in FIG. 3, a member 26 is carried coaxially on the drive shaft, the member 26 being capable of rotation relative to the drive shaft 22. The member is provided with radially extending, air engaging blades 28 and the front portion of the member 26 is formed so as to provide a worm gear 29. Brackets 31, rigidly secured to the rear face of the element 21 journal for rotation an intermediate shaft 32. The shaft 32 carries a wheel or gear 33 which meshes with the worm gear 29. The shaft further carries a worm gear 34 which, as may best be seen in FIG. 4, meshes with the wheel or gear 36. The gear 36 is fixed upon a driven shaft 37 which extends through a bearing 38 rigidly fastened to the outer face of the element 21. An outwardly flared member 41 is fixed upon the driven shaft 37 and the outer end of the driven shaft 37 is threaded to receive the thumb nut 42. As indicated in FIG. 3 the threaded end of the shaft 37 is sized so as to extend through the central opening 11 in the chromatographic disc 10. It will be noted that the spacing of the axis of the driven shaft 37 from the axis of the driving shaft 22 is equal to the dimension x, the dimension defining the radius of the circle formed by the locus of centers of the color bands on the disc 10. A counter weight 44 carried by the element 21 serves to dynamically balance the gearing, driven shaft and disc as the element 21 is rotated by the shaft 22.

In operation, referring specifically to FIG. 3, with the motor 23 energized the drive shaft 22 will be rotated at a predetermined speed, for example, 1750 r.p.m. as previously mentioned. Rotation of the shaft 22 will, of course, rotate the element 21 and the frictional drag on the gearing 29 and 33 will carry the member 26 with the shaft 22. The rotation of the member 26 thus induced is, however, resisted by the air engaged by the blades 28. As a result, assuming that the element 21 is rotated clockwise (as viewed in FIG. 2) at the predetermined speed by the shaft 22, the member 26 will also be rotated clockwise (in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. 3) but at a speed less than the speed of shaft 22 because of the air resistance offered to the blades 23. The interaction of the gearing 29, 33, 34 and 36 results in the driven shaft being rotated at a speed which is the direct function of the difference in speed between the member 26 and the drive shaft 22 and in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the drive shaft 22 as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 3. The proportioning of the gear is also such as to provide a speed reduction between the member 26 the driven shaft 37 which is substantial and, as an example, of the order of eighty to one.

If, as indicated in FIG. 3 the disc 10 is mounted on the driven shaft 37 so as to rotate therewith by extending the threaded end of the shaft through the central aperture 11 in the disc and tightening the thumb nut 42 against the assembly, it will be evident that the disc will be rotated orbitally at a predetermined speed and that simultaneously, the disc 10 will be rotated slowly in the opposite direction about its own axis, that is, about the axis of the driven shaft 3'7. The resulting visual effect occurring when the disc is rotated as described above is one in which discrete circular bands of pure or primary color appear on the disc, the bands being concentric but of differing diameters. The color bands appear to change in Width and as they change, their color shifts from a pure or primary color through various color blends and back to the original primary color. The overall visual effect is quite striking and the circular bands of color appearing on the surface of the disc are easily perceived and well defined. The visual effect which occurs can be at least partially explained by noting that because of the rapid rotation of the disc Ill the color bands, even though overlapped by adjoining color bands, appear as complete circles and in the rapid orbital rotation of the disc 16) by the shaft 22 the center of the area bounded by each of the colored bands passes, in turn, through the axis of rotation of the shaft 22 once in each revolution of the shaft 37. The eye can thus pick up an area of pure color at intervals, and with the eye fixed on this area, they will appear to widen and change in color Content until the center of the color band initially perceived again passes through the axis of rotation of the shaft 22 at which time the original primary color will again appear. The timing of this cycle of color change will be a direct function of the speed of rotation of the driven shaft 37. A convenient means for adjusting the apparatus so as to vary the speed with which the color bands change in appearance is provided by the ability to distort the blades 28 so as to be met with more or less a resistance as the shaft 22 is rotated.

Of a drive means described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2-4 is relatively simple and has distinct advantages such as the adjustability provided by the blades 28, it will be evident that other forms of driving means might be provided while still retaining the visual effect of the rotating disc 10. The important functional characteristic for obtaining the desired visual effect being the rapid orbital rotation. of the disc, that is, rotation about an axis offset from the center of the disc and the slow rotation of the disc about its own axis in the opposite direction. Additionally, the axis of orbital rotation of the disc must lie upon the circle defined by the centers of the areas enclosed by the color bands on the disc 10.

The striking visual effect is produced by utilizing a single disc which is provided with a compound rotary motion. The closed bands of color appearing on the disc 10 are preferably of solid color but could be mixed or variegated in color and could be varied in band width and shape.

While the invention has been disclosed and described in some detail in the drawings and foregoing description, they are not to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character, as other modifications may readily suggest themselves to persons skilled in this art and with in the broad scope of the invention, reference being had to the appended claims.

The invention claimed is:

1. A chromatograph comprising a disc having on one face thereof a series of circular overlapping bands of primary color, said bands having differing diameters with the locus of centers of said bands defining a circle about the center of said disc, and power means for orbitally rotating said disc at a predetermined speed about a point lying on said circle defined by the locus of band centers and for simultaneously rotating said disc about its own center at a speed substantially less than said predetermined speed and in opposite direction from the direction of orbital rotation of said disc.

2. A chromatograph as claimed in claim 1 in which said power means includes a drive shaft and a motor for rotating said drive shaft at said predetermined speed, a member carried coaxially upon said drive shaft but free to rotate independently thereof, said member carrying air engaging blades and having a portion formed to provide a worm gear coaxial with said drive shaft, an element extending radially from said drive shaft, a driven shaft mounted for rotation on said element and parallel with said drive shaft, said driven shaft being spaced from said drive shaft a distance equal to the radius of said circle defined by the locus of band centers, and speedreducing, direction reversing gear means carried by said element for transmitting rotation of said worm gear to said driven shaft, whereby with said disc fixed to said driven shaft at the disc center, said disc is orbitally rotated at said predetermined speed, said member is rotated in the same direction as said drive shaft but at a speed less than said predetermined speed because of the air resistance exerted against said blades, and said driven shaft and consequently said disc is rotated about the disc center at a speed directly proportional to the difference in speed of said member and drive shaft and in opposite direction from the direction of rotation of said drive shaft.

3. A chr-omatograph as claimed in claim 1 in which said power means includes a drive shaft and a motor for rotating said drive shaft at said predetermined speed, a member rotatable with said drive shaft but subject to the drag of air resistance to maintain its speed of rotation less than that of said drive shaft, a driven shaft having its axis parallel to said drive shaft and offset therefrom a distance equal to the radius of said circle defined by said band centers, means for mounting said driven shaft providing orbital motion of said driven shaft about said drive shaft as said drive shaft is rotated, but permitting rotation of said driven shaft about its own axis, and speed-reducing, direction-reversing motion transmission means linking said member and said driven shaft, whereby with said disc mounted on said driven shaft with the disc center coinciding with the axis of said driven shaft, said disc will be rotated orbitally at said predetermined speed by said drive shaft and about the disc center at a reduced speed directly proportional to the difference in speed between said member and said drive shaft and in opposite direction thereto.

4. A chromatograph comprising a flat element having on one face thereof a plurality of closed overlapping bands of primary color, said bands being of differing sizes with the locus of centers of said bands defining a circle about the center of said element, and power means for orbitally rotating said flat element at a predetermined speed about a point lying on said circle defined by the locus of band centers and for simultaneously rotating said fiat element about its own center at a speed substantially less than said predetermined speed and in opposite direction from the direction of orbital rotation of said flat element.

5. A chromatograph as claimed in claim 1 in which said power means includes a drive shaft and a motor for rotating said drive shaft at said predetermined speed, a member carried coaxially upon said drive shaft but free to rotate independently thereof, said member carrying air engaging blades and having a portion formed to provide a worm gear coaxial with said drive shaft, a backing element extending radially from said drive shaft, a driven shaft mounted for rotation on said backing element and parallel with said drive shaft, said driven shaft being spaced from said drive shaft a distance equal to the radius of said circle defined by the locus of band centers, and speedn'educing, direction-reversing gear means carried by said element for transmitting rotation of said worm gear to said driven shaft, whereby with said flat element fixed to said driven shaft at the flat element center, said flat. element is orbitally rotated at said predetermined speed, said member is rotated in the same direction as said drive shaft but at a speed less than said predetermined speed because of the air resistance exerted against said blades, and said driven shaft and consequently said flat element is rotated about the flat element center at a speed directlv proportional to the difference in speed of said member and drive shaft and in opposite direction from the direction of rotation of said drive shaft.

6. A chromatograph as claimed in claim 1 in which said power means includes a drive shaft and a motor for rotating said drive shaft at said predetermined speed, a member rotatable With said drive shaft but subject to the drag of air resistance to maintain its speed of rotation less than that of said drive shaft, a driven shaft having its axis parallel to said drive shaft and offset therefrom a distance equal to the radius of said circle defined by said band centers, means for mounting said driven shaft providing orbital motion of said driven shaft about said drive shaft as said drive shaft is rotated, but permitting rotation of said driven shaft about its own axis, and speed-reducing, direction-reversing motion transmission means linking said member and said driven shaft, Whereby with said flat element mounted on said driven shaft with the flat element center coinciding with the aXis of said driven shaft, said fiat element will be rotated orbitally at said predetermined speed by said drive shaft and about the flat element center at a reduced speed directly proportional to the difference in speed between said member and said drive shaft and in opposite direction thereto.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 889,590 Dun Lany June 2, 1908 2,360,536 Avery Oct. 17, 1944 2,798,324 Berger July 9, 1957 

1. A CHROMATOGRAPH COMPRISING A DISC HAVING ON ONE FACE THEREOF A SERIES OF CIRCULAR OVERLAPPING BANDS OF PRIMARY COLOR, SAID BANDS HAVING DIFFERING DIAMETERS WITH THE LOCUS OF CENTERS OF SAID BANDS DEFINING A CIRCLE ABOUT THE CENTER OF SAID DISC, AND POWER MEANS FOR ORBITALLY ROTATING SAID DISC AT A PREDETERMINED SPEED ABOUT A 